The Pokemon Masters
by rOgRL
Summary: New Poke Illness: Pokemon's elemental powers are switched around. Ash is recruited into the Pokemon Bureau of Investigation and embarks on a mission to search for other Poke Masters.


The Pokemon Masters  
  
The day was going well for twenty four year old Ash Ketchum, as he finished his daily morning work out routine. Actually, that was an understatement. Life was going well, ever since 8 years ago, when he won the most important match of his life, and was declared the Greatest Pokemon Master in the World. Now, while sweat was trickling down his forehead as he was violently hitting his punching bag, he felt at ease. He felt as if his life had become complete. I've come pretty far for a kid who left Pallet Town as the last trainer with the last pokemon, Ash thought.  
  
He continued to attach his punching bag with more force on each punch, until eventually the punching bag ripped. There goes another one, Ash thought. He headed toward the equipment room of his training center when he stopped suddenly. Pikachu's awake and coming to the training center, Ash sensed, and turned around to confirm his thoughts. Indeed, Pikachu appeared in the doorway and hurriedly ran across the beige cement tiled floor of the training center.  
  
"Whatchya got there Pika pal?", Ash said, noticing the white envelope in Pikachu's mouth.  
  
"Chu Pika Pika chu! (It's for you, Ash!)", Pikachu said excitedly. Ash rarely got mail, and when he did, it was usually good news. Like the time when a certificate for a year of free ketchup at any and all fast foods came in the mail, Pikachu nearly fainted in delight. And the time the "New, Deluxe, Better than ever PokeMassager" came in the mail, Pikachu hadn't slept better in ages.Thinking about what could possibly be inside, Pikachu gave his master the envelope and a curious look.  
  
Ash took the envelope from Pikachu's mouth and his eyes skimmed the front. He looked at the return address and it read, "Pallet Town, Oak's Laboratory."  
  
"I wonder why I'm getting mail from Professor Oak", Ash thought aloud. Ash opened the seal and took out the smooth paper inside. The letter was handwritten in computer print. It read:  
  
Dear Ash,  
  
I know I haven't gotten in contact with you for a while, ever since you won the title of the Greatest Pokemon Master in the world, but this is quite urgent.It seems as if their is a strange force in the Orange Islands, Johto and Indigo regions that is causing certain behaviours in trainers pokemon that would not ordinarily be classified as that pokemon's behaviour. For example, Alexis, a twenty-two year old pokemon trainer, has been training her Charizard for 10 years. It has a normal internal evironment, and has not had any pokemon diseases. It has evolved at a normal level, from Charmander to Charmeleon onto Charizard, yet lately it has been using water attacks such as water gun, hydro pump and surf, occasionally. I want to study about this certain behaviour in depth, and I will need your help. Please come to my lab in Pallet Town, this Friday, so we can discuss this gene mutation.  
  
Sincerely,  
  
Professor Oak  
  
Elm Oak  
  
Pikachu, again, looked curiously at Ash and said, " Pika Pi? (What does it say?)"  
  
Ash broke his stare from the letter and said, " It seems that Professor Oak wants me to visit him tomorrow, regarding about certain behaviours of pokemon." Ash reread the letter."I don't understand why this girl's pokemon is behaving like this but it's really weird."  
  
~~~~~  
  
Ash parked his black Mercedes just outside of Professor Oak's lab. He nudged Pikachu gently and said, " Wake up Pikachu, we're here."  
  
"Pi Pika Pikachu? (Already?)", Pikachu said with a slight yawn. It was midday and Pikachu didn't sleep well the night before. He kept dreaming about ketchup bottles attacking him from underground, vinewhipping him so he couldn't use his "Ultimate Thunder" attack. When Pikachu told his Master about this, Ash merely laughed and said, " Too many ketchup bottles for dinner, eh?"  
  
Ash sighed when Pikachu didn't get up. Instead of asking him to get up again, Ash carried Pikachu in his arms and closed the car door behind him.  
  
As he jogged up the sidewalk to the front of the lab, Ash noticed Pallet Town hadn't changed much ever since he left. Professor Oak's lawn had the same Sunflora and Sunkern in it. He noticed the playful Oddish and Vileplume near the bushes. And since it was spring, everything was fresh and flowery. Ah yes, Pallet Town seemed much more like home at this time of year than any other.  
  
When Ash was about to ring the doorbell of the lab, he noticed the door was already open. Surprised and alarmed, he opened the door and closed it behind him, a bit to harshly. Pikachu mumbled and started to open his beady eyes.  
  
"Good, you're awake. Now maybe you could walk yourself, instead of me carrying you", Ash said.  
  
Pikachu, again mumbled something incoherent but jumped out of Ash's arms and landed on the floor with a slight thud. Both of them started walking to Professor Oak's library, which Ash was sure that Professor Oak was there.  
  
When Ash approached the door to the library, he heard a girl's sobbing voice from inside. Thinking that something was wrong, Ash put his hand to the door knob and crashed the door open. The startled expression of Professor Oak and the tear-stained face of the girl greeted him and Pikachu.  
  
"Professor Oak, what's going on, why-", Ash was cut off when Professor Oak said, " Sit down Ash and I'll explain everything." Ash nodded and sat across from the girl. Professor Oak said, " I need to show you something, I'll bring it here. In the meantime, get aquainted with Alexis", and with that he left.  
  
Ash grabbed a tissue box from behind him and handed it across to Alexis.  
  
" Thank you", she sniffled, while burying her face into a snowy white tissue. Ash was impressed at how good-looking she was. She had intellectual gray eyes and soft blonde hair. She had a creamy complexion and a cherry of a mouth. She also had a sort of innocence about her that made her features look vulnerable, especially right now when she was crying.  
  
"I'm sorry, I must look like a mess, I apologize", she said.  
  
"No, you look fine. But, why are you crying?", asked Ash in a soft tone of voice that surprised him. He rarely spoke in a soft tone of voice to anybody. Pikachu looked at him as though to say, " I know you like her!", in a mocking tone.  
  
"Well, you probably know who I am, if you read the letter Professor Oak sent you", Alexis said. Ash nodded and she continued, "My Charizard and I decided to go to Cinnabar Island to train in Cinnabar's Volcano. When we got to Cinnabar, I noticed something strange about Charizard. In our battles, he began to use moves like Hydro Pump and Surf, against my command."  
  
Ash's eyes widened. Alexis continued," So by then I realized that I should take him to the Pokemon Center. Nurse Joy told me that there was nothing that she could do for Charizard and she recommended me to Pallet Town's Professor Oak, because he specialized in cases like these. When I got here with Charizard, Professor Oak took us in and started to examine Charizard. Charizard was doing fine until-", she choked and started to cry again. Ash dreaded what came next."-until Charizard stopped breathing last night, and died in its sleep."  
  
Ash looked down. He didn't know what to do at moments like these. He glanced at Pikachu and saw that it had tears in its eyes. Pikachu ran to Alexis and jumped onto her lap.  
  
"Oh, you're so sweet... thank you", Alexis said as she hugged Pikachu closer. Pikachu seemed to be enjoying it because he purred softly. Just then, Professor Oak returned. He was carrying two glass tubes in his hands, one with his left and one with his right hand.  
  
Professor Oak looked at Alexis and said, " I'm terribly sorry about your Charizard, dear, but I will promise you that we will find out what exactly happened." Alexis nodded and said, " Thank you Professor Oak, for being so understanding. If you'll exuse me, I feel the need to be alone. I'll be checking in at Viridian Hotel right after I leave the lab, so here is my phone number if you need to contact me." Alexis withdrew a piece of paper from her leather brown purse and handed it to Professor Oak. Then she turned to Ash and said, " Thanks for listening to me. At times like these, one needs to talk to a patient ear." She bent down and gave him a peck on the cheek. Ash blushed. She was still holding Pikachu when she said, " And thank you to for being so cute" then she kissed Pikachu's nose.  
  
Pikachu jumped from Alexis' arms into Ash's. Alexis bade her final good bye and left the library. Ash then turned his attention towards Professor Oak.  
  
"What are you holding?", asked Ash. Professor Oak said, "On my right I am holding an extraction of DNA from Alexis' Charizard. On my left is and extraction of DNA from a normal Charizard."  
  
"I don't see a difference", said Ash as he looked from one tube to the other."Ah, well it's not visible to the naked eye.", explained Professor Oak. "You see, I studied both DNA extracts under an electron microscope and they were very different in pattern. Alexis' Charizard's DNA had more similarity with a Blastoise on the same level, with the same amount of experience points."  
  
"So that must mean that the pokemon must have...mutated?", said Ash a bit uncertainly.  
  
"My thoughts exactly Ash, but I don't understand why. The Charizard was in a generally stable environment, with no need to mutate." Professor Oak looked as if he were struggling with this issue physically."The thing is, Alexis' Charizard is not the only pokemon to show irregular gene mutations. Over the past week, other trainers have been coming to me with their pokemon as well."  
  
"Did the pokemon the trainers came to you with have a similar trait like age or type?", asked Ash.  
  
"No, their have been fire, water and grass types as well as psychic and ground. The ages of the pokemon varied from 3-25. So, generally, any type of pokemon at any age could have this mutatiion. And the pokemon end up the same way--dead. Which is why I want to start an organization that will solve cases like these."  
  
Ash was intrigued."What kind of an organization?", he asked. Professor Oak said, " An organization that involves the teamwork of pokemon masters and pokemon scientists to protect the world of pokemon. It will be a top secret organization, otherwise enemies will get wind of it and try to demolish it. It will be called the P.B.I -- Pokemon Beaurea of Investigation."  
  
"One more question--how will you get pokemon masters to join?" Ash asked.  
  
"Ah, Ash, that's where you come in. Your first mission is to find 5 pokemon masters that control different elements such as fire, water, etc. I know you know where to find pokemon masters like these because you have been around the world of pokemon and met many people, am I correct?"  
  
Ash sighed and said, " Yea, you're right. Don't worry Professor, I'll find them and bring them back to Pallet Town. It might take me a couple of months, but I know exactly which 5 people to put on the P.B.I. pokemon masters team. It'll only be a matter of time before I get them..." 


End file.
